Our latest reviews
Little People by Jane Sullivan
In 1870, Mary Ann is unmarried, unemployed and pregnant. On a dark Melbourne night, she stands on the bank of the swollen Yarra, contemplating her fate when she spots a small figure fall into the water. Without thinking, she plunges…
Delius: Appalachia, The Song of the High Hills
This sort of music alwaysseems to evoke vast,sublime landscapes. Thetitles of these works aresuggestive; but there issomething about the waymelodies are subsumed into somethinggrander and less focused that drives this association.The BBC Symphony, under SirAndrew Davis, seems to understand thismusic…
Romantic Piano Concertos Volume 53, Reger & Strauss
Hyperion’s Romantic PianoConcerto series hasunearthed many rarelyperformed works – somemore rewarding thanothers. Reger’s PianoConcerto in F Minor, the highlight of thisdisc, deserves the attention it gets here.Marc-André Hamelin is among the mosttechnically brilliant pianists alive, and aperfect choice for this…
Gorecki Three String Quartets
Górecki’s fame owes almost entirely to the enormouspopularity of his SymphonyNo 3. These string quartets,written originally for theKronos Quartet, departdramatically from the tenderness andharmonic simplicity of the famous symphony.While not a return to his early atonalworks, these quartets are a…
Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 & Lyadov Enchanted Lake
Antonio Pappano continues what has beenan impressive career so far with this newrecording. Beginning with Lyadov’s TheEnchanted Lake, Pappano delivers a delicatereading of this haunting minature. He moveseffortlessly into a beautiful performance ofthe second symphony of Rachmaninoff. Thenature of this…
Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks, TSO
The first question that maybe asked here is ‘does theworld need anotherrecording of Handel’sFireworks and the WaterMusic?’ Probably not, butthe world certainly does need and appreciatemusic played with passion and that is whatyou get here. I for one never tire…
Mahler Symphony No 10, MSO
I saw the MSO performMahler Symphony No 7under Mark Wigglesworthrecently and heard it saidafter the concert, that ‘afterMahler you either need a drink or a shrink’. Well, I’m leaning moretowards the drink after listening to theirrelease of Mahler Symphony No…
Romantic Violinist, Daniel Hope
Daniel Hope presents uswith a new recording afterthe success of his BaroqueAir, a homage to violinmaster and guru, JosephJoachim (1831-1907). Allof the works featured are connected withhim. The playing is superbly gentle, withgreat use of colour and dynamics. Theeverlasting favourite…
A Worcester Ladymass, Trio Mediaeval
On their fifth release onECM New Series, and theirfirst in four years, Oslo’sTrio Mediaeval have chosena work from the thirteenth century, a reconstruction of a votive Mass tothe Virgin Mary, based on manuscripts andfragments originating in an English BenedictineAbbey. The…
JS Bach: St Matthew Passion
This recording, under themusical direction of Rudolf& Erhard Mauersberger, ismasterful. As a result, thelistener is treated to abeautiful, warm andpowerful performance by the DresdenKreuzchor, the Thomanerchor Leipzig,Gwandhausorchester Leipzig and soloistssuch as Peter Schreier, Theo Adam, SiegfriedVogel and Johannes Kunzel. Considered…
Browse our reviews by category
